EDUC 5199 - Blog]]>Mon, 07 Sep 2015 20:09:18 -0700WeeblyThu, 13 Aug 2015 20:51:42 GMThttp://vikkidykes.weebly.com/blog/post-71﻿I have chosen to write a post on the final reading entitled, "Collage: An Art-inspired Methodology for Studying Laughter in World Politics" by Saara Särmä. I chose to review this article because one of the opening lines reflects something that I believe very much. In the introduction, the author explains that in order to make our work accessible to a wider audience, we need to compete with what technology offers, and this can be done in using pop culture as content. I have argued this time and time again in my workplaces, but also in my studies, because I truly believe that modern day students have so many possible distractions, and it is so easy for them to learn independently using the internet (though likely not always 'good' learning). We have to bring technology into our classrooms to engage these audiences, but we must also modernize our curriculum and content so that education feels less like a chore, and more like a privilege and an interest.

I have taught Art, Media Studies, History and English, and in all of these classrooms, I've employed collaging as a learning activity. I have never thought of the benefits that it might bring, other than communication and for thematic analysis. I really enjoyed hearing what this author had to say about collaging: it can be theoretical, thematical and visual all at the same time. What a great way to engage students in critical thinking - I've been doing this without even knowing it, but I feel strongly now that I will know the right questions to ask the next time I use collage in my class.

Finally, I appreciated reading a scholarly article which makes humourous things like parodies and memes seem useful, and in some ways sophisticated. I have been meaning to experiment with memes for a while now because I agree with the author in that they are everywhere, and they spread like wildfire. It's true what is said when the author discusses how many people see the meme/parody, before they actually know about the real thing that it is based off of - these would be great tools for educating people.

What a great article to finish off a great course :)

﻿

]]>Thu, 30 Jul 2015 22:42:31 GMThttp://vikkidykes.weebly.com/blog/post-61In the article, “Mirror Images: Avatar Aesthetics and Self-Representation in Digital Games” by Suzanne de Castell, I was once again reminded of an article we read in Carolyn’s last class about the role of selfies in self-representation. This article discusses the ‘transaction’ like relationship between those who play games online, and their real-world context. In particular, de Castell argues that there are clear relationships between what can be observed of gamers in the virtual world, and their behaviours, political views, and social interactions on real-time. In addition, she talks about how players can alter their representation through anonymity. I was reminded of my youth in which I became obsessed with the game “The Sims” and lived out my fantasy, future life using an Avatar that I created. As a child, I made sure that the avatar had the same hair colour and eye colour as I did, but I was always excited about the opportunity to pretend I was a grown up, and dress my character up in fancy clothes. There were endless possibilities in creating your dream home, marrying another Sim character, getting a job, and even having children. While I was too young for any of these things to exist for me in the real world, the choices I made in the game absolutely reflected my beliefs, values, and political views in real-time. I feel that this is essentially a large part of the article’s argument. I believe that de Castell made an excellent point when she brought up the idea of the internet providing anonymity. She states that, “It’s long been supposed that the internet could provide for us a ‘new frontier,’ where the baggage of inherited prejudices, deeply entrenched inequalities, traumas, insecurities of appearance, capacity and disability could all be at long last ‘leveled’ by the anonymity of the Internet” (2014, 217). In her discussion, she previously mentions gender stereotypes, and seems to mostly apply this argument to the fact that women have been thought to have been able to participate equally in the online world because it is so easy for them to become whoever they choose to be. She does mentioned, however, that the online gaming world has become more like a working environment than a gaming environment and for this reason, this piece of evidence may not be realistic. I want to point out that while I believe gaming, and the internet, have many benefits, I have always felt that anonymity can sometimes be very dangerous. Obviously, there are issues surrounding children using the internet unsafely and dealing with strangers posing as people who they are not, but to revisit some of our previous discussions on self-representation, I’m not sure that condoning anonymity is positive when it comes to self-esteem and bullying. I also believe that face-to-face communication is losing value as we become more and more technologically-savvy. People are becoming confident online, but when it comes to real-time communication, they cannot always apply the skills they’ve learned in the virtual world, to the real thing. I completely agree with Suzanne de Castell when she concludes by stating that our world needs us to become activists rather than just avatars, and that we must begin fulfilling our responsibilities as citizens in both worlds. ]]>Tue, 28 Jul 2015 21:41:32 GMThttp://vikkidykes.weebly.com/blog/post-51I've had the privilege of taking two courses this spring/summer with Carolyn Guertin, and what seems to have made the most significant impression on me so far is a lesson about the importance of ensuring that our students are producers of media, rather than just consumers. Not only is this a valuable part of critical media literacy, but it is also allows for critical thinking and in my opinion, enhances student engagement largely.

In the article this week that was assigned from our textbook, DIY Citizenship: Critical Making and Social Media, entitled "Making Publics: Documentary as Do-It-with-Others Citizenship," I found myself thinking about our past class, and the fact that these documentaries would make for an excellent class project involving both critical thinking skills, and media production.

The article brought up several interesting points about documentary and I really liked how the author made it personal by bringing in examples. I'm a huge advocate of being involved in positive social changes and movements (when done the right way), and I think that the idea of do-it-yourself documentaries are beneficial to classroom teachers. Students are always interested in being 'involved' in their learning rather than just being passive pupils in a chair, and getting them to research and understand important issues starts them on the positive path of citizenship, and what their roles and responsibilities in society might entail.

I really liked that this article brought in a familiar example for me - the Hollow documentary, which we discussed in class last term. The idea of getting residents of the town in Virginia to create their own videos, and be a part of the story-telling process is so much better than someone telling it second hand.

Again, documentaries are educational, but even more so when considering the first-hand perspective. I thought this was inspirational and I think that students would enjoy the opportunity to connect with one another using this medium.

For those of you who weren't enrolled in Carolyn's previous course:

http://hollowdocumentary.com/]]>Mon, 20 Jul 2015 00:04:33 GMThttp://vikkidykes.weebly.com/blog/post-4-children-and-horror-mediaI grew up in a lower-class family, and owe much of who I am, and what I've become to my parents. My mother was a hard worker, and the most amazing care-giver, and my dad worked part-time as a painter. While my mom is probably my best friend to this day, my dad and I spent a lot of time together, and much of what I consider to be my interests and hobbies, I credit him for. One of these interests (though it often upset my mom very much), were horror movies! Even at a young age, my dad would secretly let me watch some of his favourite horror movies like Salem's Lot, IT, and The People Under the Stairs - all of which gave me nightmares of course.

Allison Henward and Laurie MacGillivray's aritcle about Gender and horror media, particularly involving very young children, was unique. While I'm not entirely sold on the entire analysis of Jakaysha's story, I am intrigued by most of what the authors had to say. The article is essentially an re-examination of how gender plays a role in horror media, but specifically, how the interpretation of gender from a child's perspective, can be evaluated. Henward and MacGillivray begin their argument with an excellent point about the impact that one's social surroundings can have on their interpretation of horror media. Things like class, ethnicity/race, and religion influence one's views of gender roles. For example, in their case study child's highly Christian, lower-working class society, interpretations and typical qualities of women are different than in an upper-class, less religious community where women are more likely to be seen as powerful and strong.

I'm not sure that a child's view of the world is something that can be dissected. In their conclusion, the authors mention that there is always a danger of reading too much into, or not enough into what is being said. In this case, I feel strongly that they may have tried to create more out of Jakaysha's story, than what was actually there. That being said, I do feel that they accounted for her social conditions (family life, class, religion) very well. I appreciated their discussion of what these varying factors mean in terms of analyzing gender roles and I believe that these things can be extended beyond just the realm of horror media.

One final point that I found interesting was the author's mention of certain female characters in horror movies being represented as strong, but violently strong. They mention films such as Carrie and Misery as examples of this. I'm not entirely sure that I believe these women are being represented in a positive way. I studied gender roles quite heavily in university classes, and it was always something that interested me very much. I recall in discussions that there were connections made when discussing misogynistic tendencies to either a woman who is completely submissive and weak, or a woman who is portrayed as wicked or troublesome - both were equally negative representations. For example, Pandora (who was created as the first woman), plagued mankind with all of the world's troubles and evils. In classical history and mythology, women were often associated with trickery.

While the article had many interesting discussions and qualities, I feel strongly that there were a few faults with the arguments because of the innocence and inexperience of the children in the study, but also because I disagreed strongly with their discussion of some women being represented as strong in horror movies.

]]>Thu, 09 Jul 2015 16:00:17 GMThttp://vikkidykes.weebly.com/blog/science-fiction-in-the-history-classroomOkay, so how can I not write a post about this incredible article by Robert A. Saunders, entitled, "Imperial Imaginaries: Exploring Science Fiction to Talk about Geopolitics"? I mentioned in a previous post that I am a massive fan of several of the types of franchises that Saunders mentions, and I was completely captivated by what he had to say. While his discussion was closely related to the International Relations classroom, my brain was constantly making connections to the history classroom, and ideas were igniting like wildfire in my mind. As you can see, this was an exciting read for me.

First of all, Saunders believes that many students arrive in our classrooms and only about half of them come in familiar with the subject matter. The other half of these students are there as beginners, or simply because they needed to fill up their timetable. He argues that modern day millennials have a fluency in pop culture, and that science fiction can be connected quite easily to international relations and geopolitics. I'm completely sold on these ideas and he does a fantastic job of using well-known franchises such as Star Wars, Star Trek, Avatar and even written works such as "An Oral History of the Zombie War" by Max Brooks, to prove his point. I was particularly interested in his discussion of how the material in these pop culture works reflect the society of the time. While Star Wars reflected Cold War ideologies of the evil empire vs. the free world, modern films such as District 9 are more reflective of our fear of the alien threat.

I had a teacher in high school who used film quite often to teach us about significant, and intellectually stimulating historical concepts. I can recall watching these films and then feeling much more confident in my ability to contribute to our class discussions. It wasn't that the films taught me the exact historical context of an event, but it did provide me with some knowledge of the themes or concepts that we were studying. As Saunders mentions, modern students are sophisticated in visual culture and films are a great way to create inter-textual knowledge and a strong vocabulary.

In the history classroom, there are many connections that could also be made by using science fiction as a medium. I strongly believe, as Saunders suggests, that teaching colonization using a story such as Avatar would engage students, and make them see that there is a still a modern relevance in teaching history. I have also studied the parallels between the original Star Wars franchise, and the rise/fall of the Roman empire. It was effective in allowing me to have a better understanding of several of the events, but also of the ideologies of Roman society. Below, I've found a neat YouTube video, which makes some comparisons between Star Wars and Rome for those of you there, who like myself, may one day find themselves teaching a Classical History course.

To conclude, this was a fantastic article. I feel that in reinforced some of my prior beliefs, but that it also has opened the door to some great ideas for future teachings.

]]>Wed, 01 Jul 2015 17:55:40 GMThttp://vikkidykes.weebly.com/blog/post-2-advertising-as-consumerismI found it really intriguing that Virginia S. Funes started her article entitled, "Advertising and Consumerism: A Space for Pedagogical Practice" with such a bold statement: "Advertising is, overwhelmingly, an enemy of the classroom" (Funes, 2008, 159). My first thought was that advertising can be such a great tool for teaching. I've taught several media units, and have found that if taught effectively, it can be both engaging and informative, not to mention the higher level thinking skills it can awaken.

I'm not entirely sure that I was completely sold on some of her ideas about the oppositions to teaching advertising. Perhaps she is right and I've simply never met that opposition myself, but I did notice that the article was written in 2008. This seems current enough, but the discussion around the ethics of teaching advertising, and of using the techniques of advertising in the classroom, seemed outdated. I think that now more than ever, with the increasing popularity of social media sites especially, teaching our youth how to be media literate is critical. It is imperative to teach these types of critical literacy skills to keep our students safe.

Thinking back to my previous course with Carolyn, I'm reminded of 'filters' and just how deceiving the online world has become. Facebook can choose what to show us on our newsfeeds, as can Google. I think the same can be said in terms of television and print ads - we as consumers of media are becoming more educated, but the producers are also becoming smarter about things. There are new techniques being developed everyday. Memes and online quizzes and tests are also indirect forms of advertising that youth might not be as aware of because they are so innovative and new.

I do think that teaching media literacy and advertising skills can be very beneficial, which the author seemed to agree, if taught properly. I also think that there are some very educational advertising campaigns out there that try to raise awareness on important issues. I'm reminded of an advertising campaign in the United States that made a huge impact on me in terms of the techniques used, but also the content. It was a campaign to inspire more people to vote and the ads featured regular people and a mix of celebrities being physically and unwillingly silenced. I've included a couple of the ads below - they evoke fear and pity, but also educate about the importance of being heard and voting in our democratic world. Hunes, Virginia S. 2008. "Advertising and Consumerism: A Space for Pedagogical Practice." Mirror Images. Shares, Rizzy. No Date. "Voting Motivational Ad Campaign." Blogspot. Retrieved from: http://rizzyshares.blogspot.ca/2008/10/voting-motivational-ad-campaign-only.html

Figure 1: Worlds of Pop Culture (Slugbooks, 2014)

Growing up, I was the type of kid who always got hooked on the latest craze in pop culture. Sometimes they were just phases, but others have lasted well into my adult years. I am still an avid Harry Potter fan, and a master of Lord of the Rings Trivia. I even find myself, still discovering new worlds for me to cling to. If you've seen Game of Thrones, you'll understand. I am thrilled to be taking a class that will allow me to hone in on my inner 'fan'.

The readings leading into our course were very thought provoking and I have to admit that I didn't really see the benefits of/understand how pop culture could relate to things outside of my own personal realm of 'nerdiness'. I thought only of the popular novel trilogies, and of the films and television shows - I failed to see pop culture for the social movements and the political debates that it also entails.

The first article, "Why Popular Culture Matters" by William M. Reynolds, mentioned Disney as one of the major influences in pop culture and I was reminded of an essay I wrote for a film studies class in University. I learned through countless hours of research (which actually became quite addicting), of the influence Disney had when it came to gender issues, and how this changed over the course of history. It was really neat to see how society mirrored many of Disney's portrayals of its characters over time. When we discussed gender in class this evening (female DJ's, dress codes, sexuality etc), this came to mind again. In the past, women were typically portrayed as helpless individuals who needed a man to come along and save the day. Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, all relied on a male hero to sweep them off of their feet and save them from whatever distress had come their way. Today, we are seeing a new wave of modern thinking happening - heroines in films such as The Princess and the Frog, and beyond Disney, the Hunger Games, have become prominent and acceptable. I guess it's true - pop culture defines much of who we are, and much of what we do. It also reflects history, and modern society.

For lack of a better word, it is so cool to be able to teach such BIG issues as gender equality, and gender issues through topics such as these. As Reynolds points out, ordinary curriculum is seen by youth as tedious and boring - these topics are forcing kids and adults to learn about really important things without them even realizing they are hitting curriculum objectives. As a teacher, I have seen a ton of success through utilizing pop culture as a teaching strategy. As some of you know, I used the Hunger Games to teach what my students called 'ordinarily boring' English stuff! They loved loved loved it!

]]>Fri, 12 Jun 2015 16:25:40 GMThttp://vikkidykes.weebly.com/blog/post-7For my final post, I have decided to further discuss and expand on some of the ideas my group came up with last night for our game. First of all, in my last blog post, I stated that while the article we'd read brought up some convincing points, using games too extensively made me uncomfortable. I have to admit, however, that when thinking of games that can be used in teaching, for some reason, I was only thinking about 'computer' based games, or using technology in game play. I had somehow overlooked or forgotten that a game can be a simple, face to face, activity as well, such as playing a board game or a sport. I think this new knowledge has made me realize that there are many more benefits to the gamification of content, than I'd originally believed there to be.

We created a game based on Malone's Theory of Intrinsically Motivating Instruction. We decided to look at the three areas that Malone mentions (challenge, fantasy and curiosity), and apply these things to a game for a high school history class (Kapp, 2012, 55-56). I think that when we looked at the word 'fantasy' history sounded like a great environment for games because it essentially is trying to re-create a world very different from our own world today. As a history teacher in the past, there was nothing more important to me then getting my students to not only stand these other eras, but to also be able to imagine it and feel a connection to what they were learning.

Our game was based on the War of 1812 (which is personally my favourite topic of study in Canadian History). For me, this war was a moment of pure nationalism for Canada. We were invaded my the United States, and we successfully fought them off. But what's more interesting about the war, were all of the stories that came out of it. People are drawn to great story-telling, and what beats the stories of Isaac Brock, Laura Secord, or Tecumseh? Not a whole lot. In fact, their stories are so great, they've almost become mythologized or fantasized? Sounds like a pretty great basis for a game to me.

Students would choose a character (a young boy or girl), and complete a series of challenges throughout. I mentioned to my group that the inspiration could be similar to a novel I read as a teenager called Bully Boys by Eric Walters. It was about a young boy who accidentally stumbled upon Lieutenant Fitzgerald, and was swept up into the war and made to be a part of this grand adventure. Our game could be similar; the player becomes a part of this huge historical event, and interacts with the various historical figures along the way. The challenges are a series of smaller goals, while the larger challenge would obviously be for the Canadians to win the war. The fantasy aspect would come from experiencing a world over 200 years before our own. Finally, the curiosity aspect would stem from the fact that students would have to learn things by trial and error. Some of the smaller challenges might help them work out things they need to know how to do as the game progresses.

I actually felt excited about our game after we came up with the idea. I think that for a history class especially, games are a great tool. Perhaps I've found my next big project?]]>Thu, 11 Jun 2015 19:04:55 GMThttp://vikkidykes.weebly.com/blog/post-6This week's reading was entitled, "Theories Behind Gamification of Learning and Instruction" and essentially talked about game design and how it can be beneficial to learning. The article took a look at psychology behind game design more than anything else which was a unique perspective, and for me, probably the most convincing evidence that could be given.I personally, am of the opinion that games are not something that should be used extensively in the classroom. I do see that there are certain benefits to using them, and after reading the article this week, I'm further convinced that there are benefits, but I think that games must be used sparingly. They appeal largely to visual learners, but in terms of differentiated instruction, I feel that with games, you miss out on the kinesthetic piece, which for many is an equally big part of learning. Many of our elementary schools today are noticing such an issue with fitness and daily exercise, that DPA (Daily Physical Activity) has become a mandatory piece of education. Growing up, I sometimes played video games, but I always found myself getting restless. Many people today believe that our youth are spending far less time outdoors, and far too much time engaged with technology, and that as a result we are becoming a lazy and unmotivated society. I'm not sure how much of that can be blamed on games and technology, but I do believe that technology takes away from our ability to communicate person to person. The author does mention a few things which made me think more positively about the use of games in instructional design. Firstly, I liked what was discussed when it came to motivation because I buy into those kinds of arguments. As a teacher, we challenge ourselves to make our students instrinsically motivated, so I liked what was said about success and confidence according to the ARCS model. When students feel that they can achieve something, they tend to believe in themselves more. As with scaffolding, small successes ultimately lead to big successes. As someone who has played video games of all types, this is true of many of them.As a media studies teacher in the past, I also buy into the argument about the 'fantasy environment' because as with television and movies, people love the chance to experience something that they wouldn't in their ordinary lives. If we can use this to foster motivation in students who are curious about life in another country, or perhaps historically, we can absolutely peak curiosity.Another point I found interesting was the discussion on episodic memory and how we recall information more effectively in the same environment from which we learned it. I couldn't help but think of testing and exams at the post-secondary level. I can still remember how intimidating it felt to have to go to a huge gymnasium to write exams and it's interesting to see that it's like this, despite proven psychological research about learning environments. Should we not be running exams and tests in the same classrooms that we use to teach then???Finally, the article made an excellent point that challenged my belief about technology (and games) taking away from our ability to communicate. It is argued in the article that games make a person feel a sense of connectedness with others (especially multi-player games). It went on to explain Social Learning Theory which evidently requires people to be working together. I think that multi-player games can be stimulating, but I would still argue that when people are physically together, there is a certain level of communication that can't be matched. ]]>Tue, 02 Jun 2015 02:13:03 GMThttp://vikkidykes.weebly.com/blog/post-5﻿After finishing Dirksen's book, Design for How People Learn, I'm once again pleasantly surprised by her writing style. She not only kept me engaged for the entire nine chapters, but she also used such relevant examples and allowed for me to understand all of her discussion points. In the final chapters, I was particularly struck by her thoughts on transferring skills to the real world, providing feedback, and learning through experience.

Firstly, Dirksen discussed this idea of real-world application and being able to transfer the skills you've taught so that students can apply them outside of the classroom environment. As a college professor, this is something that I used to struggle with. When teaching Communications, I've always believed that everything can be related to the real world (and it can), but I used to do an insufficient job of explicitly making these connections with my students. In fact, in my student feedback survey at the end of my first semester, this was a piece of constructive criticism that more than one student provided me with. It wasn't that they didn't see the overall relevance, it was that they were having trouble finding specific ways that concepts and ideas related to their future careers. My second semester teaching, I made it a priority to really emphasize these real-world applications. Every class, I would find a place in my lesson towards the conclusion of our time together, to make these kinds of connections and I saw an improvement in retention and also in students starting to understand the importance of my course. An example that sticks with me to this day is a lesson I adapted the second time around where students were learning about plagiarism. My first semester teaching this, I did a brief overview, a video tutorial, and we discussed the consequences of committing this academic breach. Students got that it was important not to plagiarize, but they left feeling like I had just repeated all this non-interesting information that only matters at the college level. While that is absolutely true, as their academic careers are on the line, the second time teaching this topic, I did a case study where groups studied various instances in the everyday world ranging from celebrity news stories, to academic environment stories, to workplace stories, of people finding themselves in hot water as a result of plagiarism lawsuits. It was super effective, and not only did students enjoy and retain the information, they also saw why it was important to know.

Secondly, Dirksen discusses feedback as an essential component to developing a skill. While students need to practice said skill, they need to know how they're doing along the way. She mentions that variety is important in how you deliver feedback, but also that it needs to come more than once or twice per course. There are plenty of upper level college courses that have merely two opportunities for feedback - a midterm, and a final examination. This is perhaps the most ineffective model of assessment I know of that actually happens in some environments. How will students know that they've fallen off the path, without getting some kind of coaching? Also, by the time you get to tests and exams, it's often too late. I try to conference with my students before they hand in all major assignments. This way, I can make sure that they have started their projects, and also that they are on the right track. Coaching also allows me to build these amazing relationships with my students, and some have pointed out that it's obvious I actually care about their success. Feedback is a two-way street, however, and I always provide multiple opportunities for students to give me feedback on class and my teaching as well. If something isn't working for them, they need an opportunity to let me know. Tickets out the door are a great tool, but also online surveys and polls have been quite effective.I thoroughly enjoyed this book and have honestly learned so much about design and pedagogy. While I do feel like I've been doing much of what she talks about, there have been several new things that have come to mind, and several other things have been reinforced.]]>